Release Blitz for “Blazing Hearts” by Paul Nosach

Dr. Sebastian Masters has lost his job from Eastbridge hospital, due to insubordination. But now he has come across the perfect woman, Dawn Turlo, who would give him another opportunity – another job offer and his own building with staff. The only catch is marriage.

But the problem lies deeper with Sebastian. He doesn’t know how to love someone, and turns to his long-time friend, Jaysen Stripe for help.

Meanwhile, Adam Ludsgarden, Sebastian’s nephew, has sunk deeper into depression due to the loss of his best friend Curtis Brown. Adam has secluded himself in his room and only comes out when necessary, and where Sebastian fails to try with him, Jaysen finds the proper words to sooth his pain.

But as Dawn starts to show her true colors and the way she feels, everything starts to spiral downward under the same roof. Can Sebastian hold everything together? Can he keep the peace? Can he keep his feelings in check after everything that had happened before with Jaysen? The suspicions grow intense, and finally Dawn Turlo is exposed to the truth. What Sebastian and Jaysen find out is astonishing.

Excerpt:

By the time the Pastor reached the room where Sebastian and Dawn were sitting, he knocked on the door. He saw before him: a man in mourning, and a woman who could have turned any other man to stone with a simple gaze. But they were together and that’s what mattered, at least in the Pastor’s eyes.

“It’s a tragic thing that happened to you both,” the Pastor stated. “But Adam is with God now.”

“What do you know what a tragic thing is?” Dawn whipped her head at stare straight into the man’s soul.

It bored into him. He felt it, too. It was that kind of stare which would bring death to anyone who crossed her path.

“And what about this God you speak of?”

“Dawn, do not speak of God like that,” Sebastian said, his eyes still puffy and red from crying.

“Do not talk about God that way,” Sebastian warned her. “He gave you life and there is a little life living inside you,” he was referring to the unborn baby.

The Pastor was appalled as Dawn got to her feet and crossed his path, meeting him eye-to-eye. She left the two men in the room, retreating to Sebastian’s room, which was hers also.

Sebastian apologized for his wife’s behaviour; for her short temper and disbelief.

“That is your wife?” the Pastor was surprised. But it also explained her pregnancy. “I noticed she’s expecting! Congratulations,” he sat where Dawn had been. “Do you know what if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“I do not want to know,” Sebastian told him, still brooding over the loss of Adam.

He started explaining to the man beside him what he already told Dawn: about his nightmares and how they haunted him – how they would stick in his mind, and that they were all about his loved ones. His dead loved ones.

As much as the Pastor tried to console Sebastian, it was not much use. As much as the Pastor tried to focus on Adam being in a better place than where they are, Sebastian dismissed the sympathy and thought that Dawn had been right. What if his wife was right? Is my wife right? Would God influence Adam to take his own life? It was an awful thing to think of, but there was no escaping it.

“May God hold him in his hands,” Sebastian suddenly broke his silence, standing and taking the Pastor’s hand.

The Pastor was shocked to hear such a thing from someone who he was consoling. He saw a shine in Sebastian’s face. Something that was unusual. Sebastian’s eyes looked as blue as an ocean in a brochure, and his blonde hair held thin golden streams. So thin, that they could have been spun by any woman. God has blessed you, the Pastor thought. But that couldn’t be true. He had never seen such a sight before. And the only other time someone had looked as such, was after sexual intercourse: a beaming glow of pure light.

“Let’s join Jaysen downstairs,” Sebastian said his voice void of all sorrow.

His tone was neither one of anger or of happiness. But his facial expression – The Pastor rose to his feet, letting his hand fall into Sebastian’s – if it was indeed Sebastian at all. Could this creature standing before him be God? After what he mentioned of God being all around us, it was a possibility that the Pastor couldn’t dismiss. They walked out into the hall, then down the stairs, still holding hands as if they had been best friends for the longest of time.

Sebastian and the Pastor gracefully took the stairs that they did not need to look down once. They didn’t falter once. When Jaysen looked up and saw both men descend the staircase, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. For one thing, he had never seen Sebastian in such a state. Usually he enjoyed his privacy, but the look on his face was unlike any Jaysen had seen. To Jaysen; Sebastian seemed to look mesmerized – his blue eyes unblinking. He wanted to say something, address Sebastian, but the Pastor shook his head, gesturing that he keep his mouth closed, for he couldn’t explain it, either.

Suddenly, Sebastian opened his mouth to speak when they reached Jaysen at the island, and said, “You are both my children, and I love you both. Dawn is my child also, but she sinned: a great sin and she will pay when the time is right.”

Both the Pastor and Jaysen couldn’t believe their ears, or their eyes. It was Sebastian’s body they saw, but the voice which came from his mouth, was that of tranquility. One thing Jaysen hadn’t heard from Sebastian in a very long time. But it wasn’t Jaysen so much as the Pastor who wanted to ask questions. After all, a man of God would jump at this chance, but his voice failed him.

“Please, drink from the cup of my body.”

Jaysen had several cups already. In ignorance, Jaysen held up the glass to Sebastian – or what appeared to be Sebastian – and said, “Cheers!”

The Pastor, standing just to the right of Sebastian, dropped his jaw in surprise. Now he knew that Jaysen didn’t believe in God, but now that God – in essence? In spirit! – was standing under the same roof…No, the Pastor was just having wishful thinking.

Knowing what was going to come, and sensing the Pastor’s anxiousness, Sebastian turned to look at him, smiled and suddenly, out of nowhere, the facial expression had changed. Sebastian’s body had collapsed to the floor, and dropping his glass, Jaysen rushed to his friend’s side.

“Help me,” he told the Pastor, but that wasn’t needed; for as soon as the words were spoken, Sebastian regained consciousness.

“¿Qué?” Sebastian asked, receiving help from the two other men.

“What do you remember?” Jaysen asked, seeming to be the obvious question that he would get after having a seizure. It was obvious that Sebastian was himself, since he was speaking Spanish again.

“I do not know,” Sebastian said wearily, shaking his head, as if to clear stars before his eyes. “What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter,” the Pastor said, looking Jaysen in the eye, giving the impression that he should keep his mouth shut.

Jaysen knew what the other man was thinking. He didn’t need to be told, as they helped Sebastian to the sofa. Jaysen offered him some water, but Sebastian declined and told them that he felt slightly energized, which made the other men helping him feel bewildered. He falls to the floor, yet feels rejuvenated? This was a queer revelation, which either the Pastor or Jaysen could understand. Was it theirs to comprehend? The Pastor had excused himself, thinking that he over-stayed his welcome.

I was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Ever since Junior high school, I have been writing (staying up at odd hours of the night). Only recently have I thought of music to push me. Every book I’ve written has a soundtrack, which are carefully selected songs (from popular artists to the mundane). I always start writing and give myself a deadline of four months to complete a novel. But as we all know, personal deadlines don’t always pan out in our favour.

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About dellanioakes

Dellani Oakes writes mostly romantic suspense novels, but she occasionally dives off the deep end into science fiction, fantasy or historical romance. When she isn't writing, she's editing, marketing or hosting her two Blog Talk Radio broadcasts: Dellani's Tea Time – every second Monday from 4-6 PM Eastern, or What's Write for Me – every fourth Wednesday from 4-6 PM Eastern, on Blog Talk Radio.
Dellani's newest book, So Much It Hurts, from Tirgearr Publishing, is available now! Dellani can be found on Facebook, Twitter and her personal blog